PwC: "Semiconductor Market to Reach $1 Trillion by 2030... Rapid Growth in Server and Automotive Sectors"

The global semiconductor market is projected to grow at an average annual rate of approximately 8.6% through 2030, reaching over 1 trillion dollars (about 1,401 trillion won). In particular, semiconductors for server and network equipment, as well as the automotive sector, are expected to experience the fastest growth.

On October 2, PwC Consulting announced the publication of its report, "PwC 2026 Semiconductor Industry Trend Outlook," which contains these findings.

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The report analyzes growth potential by end-use sector based on changes in major downstream markets-such as automotive, server and network, home appliances, computing, and industrial applications-and semiconductor trends. Driven by factors such as the advancement of autonomous driving levels and increased data traffic, the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the home appliance market, and the adoption of on-device AI in PCs and smartphones, demand for AI applications is rising across industries. As a result, the semiconductor market is expected to seek new growth opportunities centered on AI accelerators such as neural processing units (NPU) and graphics processing units (GPU).

From a supply chain perspective, the report emphasizes that it is crucial to secure capabilities across all processes-not just manufacturing (foundry) competition, but also design, intellectual property (IP) and electronic design automation (EDA), as well as packaging and testing technologies. In particular, the proliferation of logic and memory optimized for AI processing, and power semiconductors, is accelerating, accompanied by large-scale investments and collaborations between governments and corporations worldwide.

Accordingly, new investments in manufacturing are expected to reach around 1.5 trillion dollars by 2030. The total global semiconductor production capacity is projected to expand to approximately 45 million wafers per month.

The report identifies key emerging technologies that will impact the semiconductor industry after 2030, including artificial general intelligence (AGI), fully autonomous driving, humanoid robots, quantum computing, and brain-computer interfaces (BCI). More detailed information can be found on the PwC Consulting website.

Beom Yongkyun, PwC Consulting's Global Semiconductor Leader who published the report, stated, "The semiconductor industry is now establishing itself as an indispensable foundational industry in numerous fields where AI is being applied, going beyond simply supplying components. In this rapidly changing environment, companies and countries that develop proactive and comprehensive response strategies will secure a competitive edge in the future."

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